By Meraj Uddin Provat · Last reviewed May 23, 2026 · Editorial Standards
The hard part of retirement planning is not the math — it is seeing what 30 years of compounding actually does to the money you set aside today. This calculator turns your age, savings, and monthly contribution into a projected nest egg and the income that pot can realistically pay you.
Retirement Calculator
Project your retirement nest egg and the income it can produce. Updates as you type.
Estimates assume a constant average annual return, monthly compounding, and contributions made monthly with an optional yearly step-up. Real markets vary year to year; results are for planning only and are not investment advice.
How to use this calculator
Enter your current age, the age you want to retire, what you have saved now, and how much you add each month. Set an expected annual return (a diversified long-run portfolio has historically landed in the mid-single digits to ~8%), an optional yearly increase to your contribution, and the withdrawal rate you plan to live on. The result is your projected balance at retirement plus the annual and monthly income it can produce.
What the projection is really telling you
Three numbers do all the work:
- Years of compounding — the single biggest lever. The same monthly amount started ten years earlier can end up worth far more, because the early dollars get the most years to grow.
- Contribution rate — what you control directly. The yearly step-up field matters: a contribution that rises with your pay quietly outperforms a flat one.
- Return assumption — the one you control least. Small changes here swing the result hugely, which is exactly why you should test a conservative number, not a hopeful one.
The withdrawal rate, in plain terms
The nest egg is only half the question; the other half is what it pays you. A common planning guideline is to withdraw roughly 4% of the balance in the first year of retirement and adjust from there. At 4%, a $1,000,000 balance is about $40,000 of pre-tax income a year. Lower the rate for a longer or more cautious retirement; raise it only if you accept a higher chance of running short.
Why “just save more later” rarely works
Delay is expensive because the years you skip are the most powerful ones — they are the years your earliest contributions would have compounded the longest. Catching up later means replacing decades of growth with raw cash, and the numbers above show how unforgiving that trade is. The cheapest retirement dollar is the one you invest now.
Ways to improve the number
- Start the contribution today, even if small — then raise it with every pay increase using the yearly step-up.
- Protect the return assumption — keep costs low; fees compound against you the same way growth compounds for you.
- Push the retirement age out a year or two — it adds contributing years and removes withdrawing years, a double benefit.
- Stress-test with a lower return — if the plan only works at 9%+, it is fragile. Make it work at a conservative rate.
Frequently asked questions
What return rate should I use? Use a conservative long-run average for a diversified portfolio rather than a recent hot streak. Testing a lower rate shows how robust your plan is.
Does this account for inflation? It projects nominal dollars. For purchasing power, use a return net of expected inflation (for example, subtract ~2–3%) to read the result in today’s money.
What is the 4% rule? A planning guideline that withdrawing about 4% of the starting balance per year has historically had a high chance of lasting a multi-decade retirement. It is a starting point, not a guarantee.
Should I count Social Security or a pension? This tool projects your personal savings only. Treat other income as a separate layer on top of the figure here.
Is the monthly income figure after tax? No. Withdrawals from tax-deferred accounts are generally taxable, so treat the income shown as pre-tax.
Methodology
The balance is projected month by month: each month the running total earns one month of the annual return and then the monthly contribution is added. The contribution increases by the yearly step-up every twelve months. Growth is the ending balance minus your starting savings and total contributions. Retirement income is the projected balance multiplied by the withdrawal rate, shown annually and monthly. Returns are assumed constant for simplicity; real returns vary. Estimates only — not investment, tax, or financial advice.
Written by the CalcCottage team. We show the real number, not the marketing number.